| 1. |
- Kassebaum, Nicholas J., et al.
(författare)
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Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 315 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE), 1990-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
- 2016
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 388:10053, s. 1603-1658
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Healthy life expectancy (HALE) and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) provide summary measures of health across geographies and time that can inform assessments of epidemiological patterns and health system performance, help to prioritise investments in research and development, and monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aimed to provide updated HALE and DALYs for geographies worldwide and evaluate how disease burden changes with development. Methods We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost (YLLs) and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for each geography, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using the Sullivan method, which draws from age-specific death rates and YLDs per capita. We then assessed how observed levels of DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends calculated with the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator constructed from measures of income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Findings Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2015, with decreases in communicable, neonatal, maternal, and nutritional (Group 1) disease DALYs off set by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Much of this epidemiological transition was caused by changes in population growth and ageing, but it was accelerated by widespread improvements in SDI that also correlated strongly with the increasing importance of NCDs. Both total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most Group 1 causes significantly decreased by 2015, and although total burden climbed for the majority of NCDs, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined. Nonetheless, age-standardised DALY rates due to several high-burden NCDs (including osteoarthritis, drug use disorders, depression, diabetes, congenital birth defects, and skin, oral, and sense organ diseases) either increased or remained unchanged, leading to increases in their relative ranking in many geographies. From 2005 to 2015, HALE at birth increased by an average of 2.9 years (95% uncertainty interval 2.9-3.0) for men and 3.5 years (3.4-3.7) for women, while HALE at age 65 years improved by 0.85 years (0.78-0.92) and 1.2 years (1.1-1.3), respectively. Rising SDI was associated with consistently higher HALE and a somewhat smaller proportion of life spent with functional health loss; however, rising SDI was related to increases in total disability. Many countries and territories in central America and eastern sub-Saharan Africa had increasingly lower rates of disease burden than expected given their SDI. At the same time, a subset of geographies recorded a growing gap between observed and expected levels of DALYs, a trend driven mainly by rising burden due to war, interpersonal violence, and various NCDs. Interpretation Health is improving globally, but this means more populations are spending more time with functional health loss, an absolute expansion of morbidity. The proportion of life spent in ill health decreases somewhat with increasing SDI, a relative compression of morbidity, which supports continued efforts to elevate personal income, improve education, and limit fertility. Our analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework on which to benchmark geography-specific health performance and SDG progress. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform financial and research investments, prevention efforts, health policies, and health system improvement initiatives for all countries along the development continuum.
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| 2. |
- Kumar R, Avinash, et al.
(författare)
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The hydraulic and thermal performances of rectangular and square microchannel with different hydraulic diameters cooled by graphene–platinum hybrid nanofluid
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science. - : SAGE Publications. - 2041-2983 .- 0954-4062. ; 236:13, s. 7473-7483
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of hydraulic diameter and channel shape on the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of a microchannel cooled by Graphene–Platinum/water hybrid nanofluid for electronic cooling applications. The study was performed numerically using mathematical software called Maple 19.0. Microchannels having square and rectangular cross-sections, and hydraulic diameters ranging from 200 µm to 1,000 µm were taken into consideration. Thermal resistance, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, and friction factor were evaluated for different conditions and their corresponding graphs are presented and discussed. It was evident from the results that low thermal resistance and high heat transfer coefficient was achieved upon decreasing the hydraulic diameter, which is favorable for the cooling of electronic chips and devices. Based on the Reynolds number, the heat transfer coefficient increased by 2–4 times for both rectangular and square microchannels, on decreasing the hydraulic diameter from highest value (1,000 µm) to lowest value (200 µm). However, friction factor and pressure drop increased for channels with lower hydraulic diameters. In addition, rectangular microchannels exhibited better heat transfer performance, while square microchannels had lower friction factor and pressure drop. Rectangular microchannels presented a maximum enhancement of 30% in heat transfer coefficient and a reduction of 18% in thermal resistance, when compared to square microchannels. The results also suggested that the performance of microchannels with 500 µm hydraulic diameter is balanced, considering both heat transfer performance and pressure drop constraints.
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| 3. |
- Allirani, Hemanthini, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of factors influencing traffic accidents : a case study of Tiruchirappalli city
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Road safety is a major concern in many developing countries including India. Road accidents are responsible for an increase in deaths and disability throughout the world. Road accidents lead to loss of life, property and affect the general welfare of the people and the economy. India accounts for 10% of global road accidents and has the highest death rate in the world. In India, traffic fatalities have increased by 4.6% from 2014 to 2015. The analysis of road accident data reveals that about 57 accidents and 17 deaths take place every hour on an average in Indian roads. Road accidents have been increasing alarmingly in Tamil Nadu, being a major state contributing to total no. of accidents in India. Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of road accidents in 2015 sharing about 13.8% of the total accidents in the country. Tamil Nadu accounts for about 10.7% and 15.9% of total road fatalities and injury accidents in the entire country. Tamil Nadu ranked second highest and first in the country for fatalities and minor injury accidents.A case study of Tiruchirappalli city is considered for the present study. Tiruchirappalli city is situated at the geographical center of Tamil Nadu. Every year, a number of people are killed or injured due to road accidents. In Tiruchirappalli between the year 2010 and 2015, about 924 fatal accidents were reported and 974 people were killed due to road accidents. Hence, it is essential to find solutions to mitigate the problem. Road accidents are influenced by many factors such as traffic flow, geometric design of road sections, horizontal curvature, vertical grade, lane width, and shoulder width etc. Predicting the exact cause for the road accident is complex. Studies were done relating the factors like traffic volume, speed, road characteristics, road geometrics etc., with the road accidents. This study focuses on analysing road accident data and the relationship between various factors influencing road accidents so that suitable accident remedial measures can be suggested to enhance road safety.
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| 4. |
- Shanmugam, Kavitha, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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A sustainable performance assessment framework for circular management of municipal wastewater treatment plants
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could become valuable contributors to a circular economy by implementing the 3R principles (reduce, reuse, and recycle). While reducing the pollution load of sewage is the primary objective of a WWTP, this process generates several potentially valuable byproducts including treated effluent, biogas, and sludge. The effluent can be reused in various end use applications and biogas can be reused as a fuel (for electricity generation, transportation, and cooking) or a chemical feedstock. The sludge can either be directly recycled as soil conditioner or via thermochemical/biochemical processing routes to recover material (e.g., hydrochar), energy (e.g., heat, and syngas), and resource value (phosphorus). This work presents a five-layered assessment framework for quantitatively evaluating the sustainable value of municipal WWTPs by using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing assessment (LCCA) tools. In addition, indicators reflecting potential benefits to stakeholders and society arising from investments into municipal WWTPs such as the private return on investment (PROI) and the environmental externality costs to investment ratio (EECIR). The framework is validated in a hypothetical case study where the sustainable value of a circularly managed municipal WWTP is evaluated in situations involving multiple byproduct utilization pathways. Four future circular options (FCOs) are examined for a 50,000 m3/d capacity WWTP treating sewage up to tertiary standards. The FCOs mainly differ in terms of how biogas is reused (to meet the WWTP's internal energy demands, as cooking fuel, or as fuel for city buses after upgrading) and how sludge is recycled (as soil conditioner or by producing hydrochar pellets for electricity generation). The FCO in which treated effluent is reused in industry, biogas is used as cooking fuel, and sludge is used as a soil conditioner provides the greatest sustainable value (i.e., the lowest private costs and environmental externality costs (EEC) together with high revenues), the highest PROI, and the lowest EECIR. The strengths and limitations of the proposed assessment framework are also discussed. © 2022 The Authors
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| 5. |
- Shanmugam, Kavitha, 1992-
(författare)
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Circularity Assessment of Water and Waste in Cities : A Proposed Framework for Sustainable Performance Evaluation using LCA and LCC
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Urbanization is a global phenomenon, happening on a massive scale and at a rapid rate, with 68% of the planet’s population predicted to be living in cities by 2050 (UN-DESA, 2018). The sustainability of a city (Goal 11 of UN SDGs) undergoing rapid urbanization depends on its ability to maintain a low consumption of resources and materials at any given time (referred to as the urban metabolic rate), whilst simultaneously providing essential municipal services to its inhabitants, such as a water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste management. The latter must comply with circular economy principles, meaning recovery of byproducts, prevention of discharge of toxic pollutants, and avoidance of landfill usage. The appended papers in the thesis (Papers I–V) describe sustainable assessments of wastewater and waste services to increase their degree of circularity, using tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). Paper I describes the environmental performance of using the biogas from a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and converting it to Liquefied Biomethane (LBM), which can used as fuel in Tractor-Trailers (TT). Overall, the study suggests that changing from diesel to LBM fuel improves the environmental performance of TT. However, the magnitude of environmental benefit depends on an alternate source of electricity required for operation of the WWTP. Paper II evaluates the Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) of Compressed Biomethane (CBM) obtained from a food waste digestion plant in Mumbai, India for use as a fuel in transit buses. SCBA results indicate that the food waste-based CBM model can save 6.86 billion Indian rupees (99.4 million USD) annually for Mumbai. Paper III describes the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) of lightweight Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) intensive multi-material Body in White (BIW) for automobiles. The SROI of CFRP BIWs is maximized when carbon fiber production uses energy from a low carbon-intensity electric grid or decentralized sources such as waste-to-energy incineration plants. Paper IV assesses the ecoefficiency of a thermal insulation panel that consists of a Polyurethane (PU) foam core sandwiched between two epoxy composite skins, prepared by reinforcing Glass Fibers (GF) and SFA (Silanized Fly Ash) in epoxy resin. The results revealed that the ecoefficiency of the composite panels is positive (47%) and superior to that of market incumbent alternatives with PU foam or rockwool cores and steel skins. Paper V quantifies the Total Cost to Society (TCS) (sum of private cost and environmental externalities cost) of a centralized urban WWTP, including the operation as well as byproduct utilization stream. The environmental performance and circular compliance are both factored in, when determining the TCS of a WWTP. The results revealed savings of 1.064 million USD, which include direct and indirect revenues to the plant, as well as avoidance costs attributed to environmental externalities. Based on the studies described in4these papers, a five-stage assessment framework for determining the overall sustainability performance of essential treatment services in a city is proposed in this thesis. The framework considers the combined effect of urban metabolic features and initiatives aimed at improving circular compliance of essential services.
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